Ridahn
Ridahn is both a large inland sea on the inner side of central Thastre, and the name of the lands that surround this sea. Ridahn is land with a long history and countless different rulers, each leaving their mark on the local culture, making Ridahn one of the most cosmopolitan and culturally diverse lands in the west. Unfortunately the same constant change makes the place a hotbed of political turmoil. City-States rise and fall rapidly, sometimes in a matter of days. Kingdoms have never been stable here so the people tend to affiliate themselves by the specific region they come from rather than any nationality. History No-one knows exactly who lived in ridahn first, the first proven settlers seem to have been ancient saregnian colonists and traders. These wayfaring saregnians were easily and brutally defeated by a group of people known as the Haranites. The Haranites were a fiend-worshipping culture that were exiled on mass from Ferranain when the druidic religion was established by Ferranon when he was still a living demi-god. The Haranites were named after their leader Haranis; the god of blood, sacrifice, hunting and murder. The Haranites survived many holy wars organised by several generations of Verrix and were only defeated by the organised modern military of the Relanter Theocracy. The Theocracy came to establish total rule over ridahn, but were forced to establish a house system to appease the land spirits of Thastre, who dislike autocratic rule. This house system made corruption amoung imperial governers easy, and many of the great houses came to be seen as unnofficially independant kingdoms. When the Theocracy was disbanded and the Free Era began, the various noble houses of Ridahn took the opportunity to become legitimate kingdoms. The ensuing land-grab and the various wars that followed lasted for some time, old houses fell and new ones established by native peoples rose rapidly. The troubles only subsided when the prophet Haskell, a former member of the Synod, came to understand that cultural conflict is essentially unnecessary so long as all people serve the common good. With Relanese law-worship and chaotic Ridahni traditions at peace, ridahn has come to enter a golden age of peace. This peace has lasted up to the present day but is very fragile, war is a part of life in Ridahn, and it might not take much to fall into old habits. Religion The local religion is maintained by an order called the Haskellan Prelacy. The prelates follow the teachings of the Prophet Haskell, whom the church is named after. The basic tenet of Haskellan religion is that it does not matter whether a god comes from the underworld or the heavens, so long as they are good-natured and kind to mortals. The main duty of the prelacy is to determine which gods qualify and to help the people of the land avoid accidentally worshipping fiendish divinities. Worshippers of any good aligned god can be found here, Ferranic gods are quite popular due to the regions linked history with Ferranain. Relanese and Saregnian gods are also quite common. Major gods of Ridahn *Ashana, Goddess of freedom CG *Borienn, God of magic and study NG *Pallas, God of justice and paladins, divine patron of the haskellan prelacy LG *Haladrian/Haladrien, God/dess of elves, principled anarchy and nature CG *Erebor, God of dwarves, duty and the forge LG *Shomat, Demigod of redeemed goblins NG *Amara, Goddess of fertility, marriage and motherhood NG *Moru, God of thieves N *Rammak, God of the sea and its monsters CN *Teos, Saregnian god of strength, kingship and the sky LG *Rhengor, God of Justive and Vengeance LN Regions Logain Logain is the region along the northwestern coast of the ridahn sea. Lorain is its capital city, its other major cities are Port Saider, Whitevale, Lyrash and Senreve. Logain is currently ruled by House Karrius, the last of the original Relanese houses. House karrius is very proud of its ability to remain relevant as history changes around them. The locals generally consider House Karrius to have earned their place as locals and the Relanese history is more a mark of pride than a sign of foreign dominance. Kilran Kilran is the region along the westernmost coast of the ridahn sea. Kesalles is the capital of Kilran, other major cities are Keringard, Eastway and Broadden. Kilran is ruled by the descendants of a Haranite clan that converted to the worship of good gods very early on. There are two major consequences of this native rule. Firstly, because there was less racial conflict Kilran has a great population density, villages scatter the land more thickly than most other places in Ridahn. Secondly, the violent nature of the Haranites lives on in the people of Kilran, even though they converted long ago, tempers run hot here and outsiders are shunned. Kilran has great deposits of iron, many citizens and a strict conscription and training regimen, its military is feared throughout the region. Leossar Leossar is the name of the peninsula that encloses the southern end of the ridahn sea. Mytel is its capital, other major cities are Enkolla, Serrian, Redmarsh and Westmeet. Leossar is the site of the original saregnian settlers in Ridahn, and even today thousands of its citizens are saregnian. Leossar lives under the rule of an experimental form of republican government. After years of rule under homicidally insane monarchs, the people of Leossar revolted and established a government by council. The people of a city elect which noble house they wish to be in charge, and to prevent that house from seizing power, they are forced to answer to the houses that were not voted in. Though hatred of hereditary rule is still strong in Leossar, the backstabbing of republicanism isnt proving much better. Haldon Haldon is the name of the lands on the western and northern coasts of the large Inlet on the north-eastern half of the Sea of Ridahn. Haldon is still mainly tribal, it is one of the least advanced kingdoms technologically, and while it holds a large amount of land the people tend to rule themselves. The center of technology and culture in Haldon is the city of Ten-Swords which lies on river-mouth at the northmost shore of the Sea of Ridahn. Ten-Swords as it is now known was begun by marauding Taugor who built up such a vast amount of wealth and followers that ruling a city became easier than moving from place to place. They took control of the city away from the Relanese noble house and established themselves as the new rulers of the kingdom. They adapted to local ways and traditions quickly, but still have the seafaring, warlike nature that their Taugor ancestors had. Seran Seran is the region of Ridahn along the easternmost shore of the sea. Seran is a modernized, cosmopolitan land just like the rest of Ridahn, but only due to the influence of sea-trade from the rest of Ridahn. Geographically it is just an extension of the vast plains of Avaria, and as such many of its people are Avars who gave up their nomadic horseman lifestyle to live in the cities. It's two major cities are Kalo and Savorne. Since Kalo is much larger and older, and since Savorne is a vassal city of Kalo, Kalo is often seen as the 'Capital' of seran. However most settlements are independant Avar colonies, so in truth there is no capital. Seran breeds trades the much-prized swift, strong horses of Avaria to the rest of the world and as such is quite wealthy, despite its relatively rural economy.